Web Design is often seen as the process of creating a website that will win the best looking website competition. During the design process it's easy to lose site of the main reason the website is being designed.

In fact, so many great looking sites don't achieve their main function because they have only one thing going for them; their looks. Almost like a car that installs a foot massager into the driver side of the car. Wow, a great feature but now theres no space for the essentials; the accelerator and brake.

Good web design needs to have a balance between aesthetics and functionality. The functionality of the website needs to be apparent from the start or else the web user will surf past your website clueless about the benefits you have to offer them.

Web users can spend up to 8 seconds on your website and then decide whether your website is what they need to solve their problem. If the user decides your website looks great but they cannot find the information they are looking for then - presto - they move on.

The point is to make sure that the website has easy to use navigational structures that are easy to use.

Another aspect of web design that can lose a potential client is download speed. Broadband technology has not made the user more patient while downloading web content in fact broadband came into being so that the user can access the information faster. Thus users now want information faster than before. This is easily possible by using the creative process to design flexible templates that are quick to download and easy to navigate.

If users can access your website, find the info they are looking for and get to it quickly... then you're in business.

However, lets throw another spanner into the design works. Search Engines (SE) send people to places of relevant content. The user types in their keywords into the SE and the SE recommends a bunch of website that are relevant to those keywords. Have you ever wondered why you website is not showing up in the Searches?

We will discuss Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in the next article, for now well look at two design pointers to ensure the way you design your website looks good to a web user as well as Search Engines.

Don't be Flashy
Don't use flash to display your content. Flash is a video file on the internet. If you use flash to display your content Search Engines will not know what your website is about. The reason for this is that Searches use algorithms to calculate the relevancy of your content. This algorithm can view text only. Therefore a video file on the internet doesn't tell the SE what the website is about. The conclusion is then that your flash website wont appear in the Searches.

Label Graphics
Label your graphics in line with keywords in your website. This will give you an edge because you have just given the SE eyes to see what your images are on the website.

So think about these aspects when selecting your web design company in the future. Ask them a few key questions to see if they understand how to design for all your audiences, including Search Engines.

If you would like more information the topics discussed in this series of articles please visit www.sesalos.com/web/presentations to request a full presentation on:

Exceeding Client Expectations Through Their Website: They'll Love You For It!